Love and Patience

By Manoshi De Silva

"Will you stop pulling my school books!" Tiren shouted at his baby brother. "Why?" asked his little brother. "Because you scribble and ruin my books!" said Tiren, pushing him out of the room. "Why?" asked the little boy again. He knew only a very few words still and 'why' was his favourite word.   

Tiren sighed and sat on the sofa. "Why?" continued his little brother struggling to get on to the sofa. "Go away!" shouted Tiren and the small boy got scared and went away crying. Tiren's grandfather also lived with them. He was his father's father. He slowly moved his wheelchair and came near the sofa. "Putha, why is Malla crying?" he asked Tiren.

"I chased him because he scribbles on my school books, Seeya," replied Tiren. "Who scribbles on your books?" asked Tiren's grandfather whose hearing was not too good. "Malla scribbles on my books!" said Tiren almost shouting to make his voice louder. "What did Malla do?" asked his grandfather getting closer. Tiren lost his cool and went back to his room muttering.

Tiren kept his head on his desk and grumbled. "Why are the two of them so annoying? They make me so angry!" he said to himself. Tiren's father who was outside watering the plants, saw the boy keeping his head on the desk, through the room window. He came near the window and peeped inside. "Putha, are you okay?" he asked Tiren.  

The boy sighed. "I am just annoyed Thaththa!" he said in a tired voice. "What happened?" "Oh it's just Malla and Seeya!" said Tiren, "they always do and say things to annoy me. I lose my patience thanks to them." Tiren's father smiled. "Let's see why they annoy you," he said removing the hose from the garden tap.

"Okay, now tell me what happened!" Tiren's father sat on his bed. Tiren sat next to him. "Malla doesn't listen when I tell him not to pull my things. He scribbles on my school books and always asks the same questions again and again. I am tired of answering his silly questions!" "And what about Seeya?" asked his father.

"Seeya is no better," sighed Tiren. "He always asks questions and unless I don't shout and answer he doesn't hear what I say. Even after I answer his questions, he keeps asking the same things again and again. They are both the same!" Tiren's father smiled. "You are correct there!" he said. "What do you mean?" asked Tiren.

"You, yourself said it!"smiled Tiren's father, "when people grow old, they become very much like small children. Malla can't understand because he is still learning new words, how to do things and what is right and wrong". "But Seeya knows all that!" said Tiren. "Yes, but as people grow old, their memory gets weak. So they forget these things and start acting like small children!" explained Tiren's father.

"Have you noticed that they are both not very strong and need help to do even small things like walking, eating and other simple things?" asked Tiren's father. "What you need to understand is that Malla won't be behaving that way for a very long time, as he will be learning new words and understanding things better. He'll soon be like you and start going to school!"

"But I find it annoying when they ask the same things over and over!" said Tiren. "Putha, when you were small, you also asked the same questions again and again. That is how you also learned. Seeya was much stronger then. He used to carry you around and spend long hours looking after you. Even when you asked him the same thing so many times, he used to laugh and answer you lovingly. He was very happy to be around you!" said Tiren's father.

Tiren felt very sad. He remembered the photographs of him playing on his tricycle with his Seeya, when he was a baby. "Seeya never got annoyed with me. He loves me so much!" thought Tiren. "Now Seeya barely even recognizes me sometimes!" said Tiren. "Yes, that's true. Our memory fades as we grow older. One day I will also get as feeble as he is and so would you!" said Tiren's father.

"Malla will become stronger and Seeya will become weaker as time goes by. So you must understand that. We must have a lot of patience and treat them kindly. You must remember that you were also like Malla once and that you will also become like Seeya one day!" nodded Tiren's father.

Tiren saw Malla playing together with Seeya in their living room. They were laughing and saying the same things over and over to each other. "They even look a lot alike," thought Tiren, smiling to himself. "They both have only a few teeth and very little hair. They are both not very strong and need support to do things. Also they are both also stuck at home most of the time, so they must be feeling bored and lonely. Maybe that's why they like to talk and interact with us so much!"

"You are lucky to have them in your life Putha," said Tiren's father, "I never even got to see my grandfather and I also had no brothers." "I don't feel annoyed anymore," said Tiren, "I now understand that it's not their fault and that's just the way they behave at those ages." "That's how we all behave at those ages," smiled Tiren's father.

Tiren walked towards his baby brother and grandfather. He gave a hug and kiss to both of them. They both smiled happily and Tiren thought how lucky he was to have them in his life. Giving them some attention was not that hard to do. All he needed was a little patience and all they needed was a little love, and Tiren promised himself to give that to them.